Who's the Monster Now?
by FastForward
Summary: Naruto always gets beat up for what he has inside of him. Why should today be any different?


**This is just something that came to mind after I read a bunch of fan-fiction involving Naruto. He's hated for having the Kyuubi in him and I just thought I'd write something about just how much he's hated and how it'll probably never go away. No spoilers, I have him as a Chuunin but that's just me. **

**Naruto belongs to K. Masashi, although I wouldn't mind giving Naruto a hug every once in a while for all he goes through.**

_It'll never change, will it?_ Naruto thought sadly as he was wrenched into the shadowy depths of an alley and a fist connected painfully with his jaw, sending him crashing to the floor. _They'll never see through the Kyuubi. I'll always be a monster to them._

Looking up, he noticed four ANBU looking down at him, probably smirking, although he couldn't tell since they wore their masks. One of them kicked him in the stomach and he winced, but didn't cry out. He was used to this. He'd hoped it would stop when he became a Chuunin, but it hadn't before, so why would it now? He would've hurt them back, but then it would just be proving them right. Proving that he _was_ a monster. So instead, he lay on the ground and tucked his knees closer to his chest, enduring it. He would just take it, and wait for them to go away.

One of them kicked him in the temple and colours flashed before his eyes. He covered his head with his hands, unwilling to allow them to injure that particular part of his body. He'd already gotten a concussion a few times before because he hadn't protected his head, and he wasn't willing to get another one.

One of them kicked the small of his back and he inhaled sharply as he heard something crack and pain shot up his spine.

"Stupid Fox!" One of them yelled and he grit his teeth as he felt a shuriken bite into his left bicep. A foot connected painfully with one of his shins as one of them yanked at his hair. Managing to free his death grip on his head by having one person hold his wrists and another wrenching his face up, a third person began punching him mercilessly across the face, splitting his lip and instantly giving him a black eye. He heard a crack and pain shot through his face as his nose broke. This was probably the eighth time he'd had his nose broken and he was beginning to get annoyed having to set it all the time.

He felt his forehead protector get wrenched off his head, ripping a few hair with it as it came free.

"Trash like you doesn't deserve to get this." The ANBU tucked it into his robes and Naruto could practically _hear_ the smirk. He walked forward and spat into Naruto's exposed face. Naruto didn't react. He merely closed his eyes and waited for it to pass.

"What do we need with a stupid fox like you, anyway?" Another one of the ANBU asked. None of them moved. Considering what Naruto had gone through in the past, this had been relatively painless.

The one holding his wrists let him go abruptly while the one holding the back of his head smashed it into the ground. His vision swimming, Naruto didn't see the fourth ANBU pull out eight shuriken and let them fly. Naruto bit his lip to muffle the cry of pain as the shuriken imbedded themselves into various parts of his body.

"Hey, I think we should show this piece of trash where trash is meant to go." One of the ANBU said. Catching his drift, two of the ANBU positioned themselves; one at his head, the other at him feet. Grabbing him by the wrists and ankles, they hoisted him into the air and started walking towards a large dumpster. One of the two remaining ANBU was holding the lid open. With a heave, the two holding him threw him painfully into the dumpster, his head hitting the edge painfully, causing tears to form in his eyes, but he didn't let them spill. He wouldn't give them that satisfaction. One of the shuriken had imbedded itself in deeper as he landed, and he felt his leg go numb.

"Trash like you belongs in the trash." The ANBU holding the dumpster lid open stated before also spitting in Naruto's face. "Don't bother getting out. It's where you belong." With that, he slammed the lid of the dumpster down and Naruto heard them all laughing as they walked away.

Naruto lay on the garbage for a long time, unable to move as pain raced through him. After seven minutes, he finally shifted and pulled the closest shuriken out—the one in his bicep. He let it fall into the garbage pile beneath him and began to pull the other shuriken out, most of them having hit him in the left thigh. As soon as they were all out, the wounds began to heal. It didn't make the pain go away, nor did it hide the fact that he had once been bleeding in the spots the wounds had once been, but at least they weren't visible.

He winced as he touched his cheek, knowing that the bruises wouldn't disappear like the cuts. He'd never understood why, but his bruises never healed like the cuts.

He tried to straighten slightly but the pain racing down his spine forced him to stop, so he instead took a deep breath as he positioned his hand around his broken nose. Exhaling, he forced his nose back into place and covered his mouth hastily with the other hand to muffle his scream. Taking deep breaths through his newly fixed nose, he removed his hand from his mouth and began wiping the blood off his face with his sleeve. He had to be careful around his nose, but he was fairly certain he'd gotten most of the blood off.

Afterwards, he let his hands fall to his sides and stared at the lid of the dumpster, making no attempt to get out. He'd have to make sure not to see Tsunade or Jiraiya for a while, or else they'd know he'd gotten beaten up again. Sakura always told him to fight back when people tried to beat him up, but all he could ever think about was that hurting anyone from Konoha would make him the monster he was said to be. He didn't want that.

He wanted to prove everyone wrong. He wanted to show them he _wasn't_ a monster. But—it was so _hard_. Forcing down the lump in his throat, Naruto let out a shaky breath.

"Sorry, Iruka." He whispered aloud. "Looks like I'm not going to make it to lunch after all."

Naruto closed his eyes.


End file.
